the night. they are still here keeping an eye on it. it's still smoldering a little bit. they're trying to figure out exactly what started this fire. we'll have updates throughout the morning. back to you guys in the studio. new this morning, a search in the district for the gunman who shot a man in northeast. the shots were reported around 9:30 last night. when police arrived they found a man shot to death. if you were in that area or saw or heard anything, you're asked to call police. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is keeping an eye on the forecast for us. just a tad warmer. if warmer is the word to use. >> i don't know if you can say it's warmer. >> maybe tad is not small enough. >> maybe half a degree. it has been chilly overnight. the winds may have exacerbated that fire situation because we had a blustery wind. that has continued overnight. good morning. as we look at the storm team 4 satellite radar, those patches of green are some sprinkles and those are showing up, again, off

to our west and north. we're being affected in a peripheral way by remnants of sandy. it's way up in canada. still getting a few spokes of energy. panhandle of west virginia, northern shenandoah valley to frederick county, as well as in washington county. breaks in the clouds, southern maryland on the eastern shore, but it's all cloudy around the metro area and points west. there is a chill in the air. it's in the low 40s to near 40 degrees, much of the region. hour by hour today, might have a sprinkle this morning. a lot of cloudiness through noontime. by then it will be in the low 50s and winds may be gusting to around 15 or 20 miles an hour or so. sunrise 7:36. by late afternoon, highs reaching the mid 50s. i'll return in ten minutes.

your first traffic this morning. >> grood morning. still dealing with that fire. your closures are between third street and sixth street. you may want to take first street in that area. avoid it if possible if you're about to head out of the house. let's head over to i-95 southbound in virginia. had construction set up. was blocking the left lane. hov lanes were shut down, but you can see traffic was getting by, that was earlier because of construction. also good news on the road, 395 northbound, had an accident, that accident is gone. travel lanes are open between the 14th street bridge and the beltway. melissa ma lay at the live desk with breaking news. >> two different shootings in california. we start with one at the university of southern california. several people shot outside a halloween party. no word on their conditions or if they're students. we know that the university did just issue an alert asking for

students to avoid opening doors because police are still looking for that gunman. take a look at this video into our newsroom a few moments ago out of hollywood. a melee there after someone opened fire into a crowd of revelers. three people in critical condition. the death toll continues to climb four days after sandy made landfall. so far the storm claimed 74 lives. more than five million homes and businesses are without power across the east coast. most of those averages are in the new york area. meantime, president obama saw the damage on the jersey shore firsthand. during the tour, the president pledged federal support for the long haul. right now, local utility crews are close to restoring power to just about everybody who lost electricity during sandy. dominion virginia power has the most work ahead of it. about 3,100 of its customers still in the dark. pepco has restored power to virtually all of its customers,

reporting just 13 without power. novak has restored power to all but about 380 of its customers. >> the lack of power is keeping several schools in our area closed. students from four schools will get another day off, lotion elementary, southern middle. chapel forge early childhood center in prince george's county is also without power. all schools in pendleton county are closed because of power issues. there is still much to be done in the wake of hurricane sandy and some of the devastation is still unfolding. in woodbridge, new jersey, some 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked, it's mixing in with the water that leads to the atlantic. 200 workers are working to contain that spill. this morning we're learning more about the efforts of search and rescue in staten island,

looking for two children who vanished during the storm. rescuers found 14 people alive, three others dead. a couple is missing, but their car is gone, leading police to believe the two drove out before the flooding. police say many people in that area tried to ride out the storm despite evacuation orders. in the day ahead, new yorkers can use the bus and the subway for free. new york governor andrew cuomo declared a transportation emergency. the agency waived fees today and tomorrow. however, not all subway lines are running because some stations and tunnels remain flooded. other stations are still out of service because of lingering power outages. also today, laguardia airport will reopen. about 3,000 flights were cancelled yesterday, and from the air, you can see why. the airport has been closed since monday. take a look at that. sandy pretty much flooded the tarmac. flooding is still a problem in frederick, maryland.

a number of roads are impassable after the rains caused the river to overflow its lengths. the flooding means lengthy detours by residents. the damage is widespread. in some areas, residents are without power for a fourth day. police say the narrow roads and winding driveways being repaired could take a bit longer. this scene in alexandria a familiar one to many of us across the region. crews are working overtime to clean up toppled trees that got too heavy for the rain-soaked ground and heavy wind. they need to get them out of the way so companies can restore power and inspectors can survey the damage to homes. to move just one tree costs about $5,000. president obama will return to the campaign trail today. he'll head west to stump for votes in three battleground states. the president will first stop in wisconsin for a rally in green bay. from there, he heads to nevada and a campaign event in las vegas. he'll also head to denver this

evening before flying all the way out to ohio late tonight. mitt romney will spend the day in virginia. he has campaign events scheduled in roenick, virginia beach, and near richmond. romney was supposed to tour virginia on sunday but cancelled those plans ahead of sunday. recent polls show he and the president in virtual tie in the commonwealth. calls for help, the rescues caught on camera as flooding took over the jersey coastline. still ahead, the flames that destroyed homes as hurricane sandy moved inland. and will we see more sunshine? yo

take a look at all this snow in the great smoky mountains. two more feet fell in tennessee. earlier in the week, rangers say the area you recally gets four inches of snow this time of year. hurricane sandy caused more snowfall in the past week. >> let's take a live look outside. it's just 46 degrees out there. chilly. this is a live look at the national harbor. looks chilly out there. you're going to need a coat. maybe some gloves. >> don't want to go down to the harbor right now. tom kierein has a look at weather and traffic. >> we have some chilly breezes flowing this morning. first day of november. we're starting off with some clouds rolling through from the

north and west. we are still feeling the effects of what was sandy. it's spinning away over eastern canada now. it's such a huge storm. it's affecting us. spokes of energy rotating along the bottom side, triggering few sprinkles north and west of the metro area. we'll have perhaps a few sprinkles around. the areas in dark blue in the low 40s, and the light blue areas generally in the low 40s. small chance of a few scattered sprinkles. by this afternoon, a little sun should break out. highs into the mid 50s and the winds gusting around 20 miles an hour. i'll be back with a look at friday. how's traffic? >> fire activity shutting down florida avenue both directions, between third street and sixth street. let's head over to 395 southbound. just discovered an accident there. as you make your way past washington boulevard, you'll see

the right lane and your left lane blocked by the accident. however, traveling on 50 in maryland, outside the beltway, inside the beltway, a live look. you're nice and clear as you head eastbound and westbound. not seeing if i issues for you. still to come, unbelievable view. the damage sandy is leaving behind still as the flood waters slowly go down. >> and why people in maryland have no problems waiting in this very long line well into the

concern is shifting this morning from the jersey shore to one of the state's most well-known towns, hoboken, new jersey. that river side city has turned

into a virtual island. the national guard has been called out to help get people out. coming up on 15 before the hour, it could take two days before the water fully recedes there. >> harry has been in hoboken for days and joins us live with the recovery effort there. any improvements where you are? >> reporter: there have been a few improvements here as of this morning, but there's still a lot of struggling going on in hoboken. now, quickly, let's take a look at the flooding that has really taken over this city, which is only one square mile. 50,000 residents live in hoboken, and nearly half of those residents had to leave and be evacuated as a result of hurricane sandy, and the flooding has just been devastating. two feet to five feet surrou surrounding many of these apartments and businesses, and the water is contaminated. there's glass in the water. power lines in the water. it's just not safe to walk in it at all, which is why the people

are still stranded in their homes. the national guard here trying to save them. also the police and the fire department. right in back of me, the hoboken fire department has relocated their headquarters. here on 14th and washington street. because three of the four fire stations have been completely flooded with water. that just shows what we're dealing with here. but they are working so hard. i've spoken to a few police officers who said they haven't slept in nearly two or three y days and when they do sleep, it is inside of their cars. meanwhile, the community is coming together. to my right is hudson street. that's the one street here in hoboken that does have power. what the people are doing is leaving power strips out for people without power to come and charge their cell phones and other electrical devices. also, a few restaurants here have power and they've been giving free food away to those people in need. and it's just one heck of a community effort here in hoboken, and there's one way -- well, yesterday there was one way to get into manhattan and

that was the ferry. the line spanned for nearly half a mile as people were trying to get into new york city to work. no doubt about it, hoboken is struggling, but they are making progress. and one other sign of good news, yesterday when we did our show, there was three feet of flooding on one street and now that flooding is gone, so it is receding slowly but surely. we are live in hoboken. back to you. >> i know the focus has been on the rescue effort here, but i've got to wonder if the leaders there in hoboken anticipated on any level that they would have flooding of this sort before they had to rescue so many people. >> reporter: very good question. well, i spoke with the mayor in an exclusive interview here on nbc yesterday, and she was kind of trying to explain exactly what precautions they were trying to take, but unfortunately, no one has ever seen a storm like this before in this area of new jersey and new york city. so while many people did

evacuate and the mayor and the governor did call for evacuation, people just weren't expecting it, and that's really the problem. the whole infrastructure here is not ready for such a storm, and that really is the problem here in this area. once again, back the you, live from hoboken. >> the mayor was also making a plea for people to bring in supplies and donate goods. is anyone even able to get into hoboken to make those donations? >> reporter: well, people are now able to get into hoboken. i will say about 12 hours ago, the police were shutting it off -- shutting off the city because they wanted to keep it very calm, so the national guard could do their job without any problems. they don't want any spectators coming to look at the flood damage. so they've been opening and closing the borders of hoboken, but right now, it is wide open, and you can get in. so that is a good sign there. are signs of normalcy. taxis are driving now. and a few streets are opening up. so things are getting a little bit better here in new jersey. >> all right, thank you.

president obama is promising a quick response from the federal government. he and new jersey governor chris christie toured some of the devastation sandy left behind. the president says his administration will not forget about the storm's victims. >> we're going to have a lot of work to do. i don't want anybody to feel that somehow this is all going to get cleaned up overnight. we want to make sure that people have realistic expectations. but what i can promise you is that the federal government will be working as closely as possible with the state and local officials, and we will not quit until this is done. >> right now, fema has more than 2,000 workers on the ground in new jersey to help storm victims. this morning we're getting a better perspective on how dangerous conditions were when sandy hit. take a look at some pretty dramatic video we got from the greenwich, connecticut, fire department. you can see three homes completely engulfed in flames in these pictures. firefighters say the wind, really strong winds kept them

from battling that blaze monday night. first responders evacuated people inside their homes. nobody got hurt. this morning we're learning a third person died in maryland in the aftermath of sandy. firefighters in annapolis say a contractor was killed when a tree fell on him just outside the naval academy. the man was part of a crew removing trees damaged by the storm. we're told the victim was in his late 40s or early 50s. the other two sandy-related deaths in maryland -- one happened in montgomery county. montgomery county is trying to come to terms with a 15-year-old girl hit by a car on her way to school. she was trying to pass seven lanes of traffic when a car hit her yesterday morning. she was a sophomore at seneca valley high school. police tell us the man who was behind the wheel of the car had a green light at the time. so far, no charges have been filed. police are offering more reward money in the search for a man who killed a local mother as

she walk her dog. police say the man in this sketch opened fire on a couple on a trail. the husband was seriously injured by the wife later died. people trick or treating in that area say they were shocked to hear about the news. >> it's kind of a scary thought. i never thought it would happen if our neighborhood. we've never had a problem. one of the back areas where we live, it has a path and we've walked on before. >> i guess you have to keep on going, but just be on guard a little bit. >> the suspected gunman is believed to be a black male with a slim build in his early 20s. police have now tripled the reward money to $15,000 for information leading to an arrest. it is 4:51. we want to switch geers and get you updated on the forecast.ars you updated on the forecast. >> there was some indication that sandy might have come

farther south. we would have had that kind of damage, so it did make a big difference where sandy made landfall. and what a monster storm. we're still being affected by it, even today, in the form of these clouds and the blustery winds that are coming through. once in a while they gust up to 15 or so. yes, we're still being affected by the remnants of sandy. it's in eastern canada right now, but we're getting areas of energy, getting some sprinkles in frederick and carol county, washington, panhandle of west virginia, and the northern shenandoah valley. these sprinkles are coming off to the east. some breaks in the clouds in southern maryland, and around the chesapeake bay and the eastern shore. a chill in the air with the blustery winds going to feel even chillier. we're generally in the low to

mid 40s. for the morning commute, sunrise, 7:36. still a chance of a few sprinkles. we'll be in the upper 30s and low 40s. still a bit blustery by noontime. still a lot of clouds around. a little sun may be breaking out by later this afternoon. here's the four-day forecast. we'll have highs a bit chillier tomorrow. cold start on friday, low to mid 30s tomorrow morning, partly cloudy, winds still blustery on saturday. the longest weekend of the year. boy, do we need it. that's coming up this weekend. we turn our clocks back one hour before you go to bed on saturday night. saturday morning, cold, near freezing. should be good weather for the skins game on sunday. mostly sunny, highs mid 50s after a cold start. should be dry and chilly, all the way into next week. i'll be back in ten minutes. here's a look at traffic now with danella. >> we're going to start in damascus, maryland. have downed wires because of an

accident that just occurred recently. so traveling at ridge road, it's close between woodfield road and space lane. that accident has downed wires on the roadway. let's head back over to the district northeast along florida avenue. still seeing fire activity. florida avenue is shut down both directions between third street and sixth street. i'm back in ten minutes, we'll check on the accident along 395. over to you. amtrak is prepared to resume some service to and from new york city as early as tomorrow. it is expected to release its friday schedule today. crews are removing water from flooded train tunnels under the hudson so that crews can repair tracks. coming up, the bakery item that grocery train wegman's is recalling. and why people were more than willing to wait it out last night in maryland.

great news for those who take the beltway. coming up at 5:00, just how [ earnest ] out of the blue one day, we were told to build a 30-foot stage. gathered the guys and we built that 30-foot stage, not knowing what it was for. just days later, all three shifts were told to assemble in the warehouse. a group of people walked out on that stage and told us that the plant is now closed and all of you are fired... i looked both ways, i looked at the crowd, and...we all just lost our jobs. we don't have an income. mitt romney made over 100 million dollars

by shutting down our plant and devastated our lives. turns out that when we built that stage, it was like building my own coffin, and it just made me sick. [ male announcer ] priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising.

some folks in maryland hey be a bit tired. they waited for hours to vote. early voting resumed. it was postponed monday and tuesday because of sandy, so governor martin o'malley extended voting through friday.

a lot of marylanders waited in line for three hours or longer just to cast their ballots. >> i thought i was going to beat the line, but that's all right, i was expected to stay in line, so i'm going to stay here until i get my chance to vote. >> i know my vote counts. >> early voting also resumed yesterday in the district. d.c. residents can now vote between -- can vote between now and saturday between 8:30 in the morning and 9:00 at night. in virginia, fairfax county is extending in person absentee voters. your last day to submit an in-person absentee ballot is saturday. voting centers will be open from 8:00 until 5:00 that day. you find the list of all those locations on nbcwashington.com. search extended voting. the tax returns of more than three million south carolina

residents have been hacked. the state's revenue department says social security numbers, credit card information, and business records from tax records dating back to 1998 may have been compromised. it is considered the largest cyber attack against the state tax department in u.s. history. both state and federal agencies are now investigating. stay with us now. news4 today continues at 5:00 a.m. and now, this is "news4 today." developing right now, reignited. the massive flames that flared up in d.c. causing crews to call for backup. >> welcome to "news4 today" for this thursday, november 1st, 2012. the death toll continues to climb four days after sandy made landfall. so far, the storm claimed 74 lives. more than five million homes and businesses are without power across the east coast. most of those outages are in the new york area. meantime, president obama saw the damage on the jersey shore firs